Rihanna, Harry Styles, 'Twin Peaks,' Hilary Duff: Graduates mine pop culture for clever cap decorations

It’s that time of the year again — when new graduates collect their diplomas and cards full of cash, and wave goodbye to a stage of their lives. Although the graduation ceremony is a time-honored tradition for decades, this generation’s group of grads have a new dress requirement: namely, elaborately personalized mortarboards.

Now, for the old-timers out there — sure, we know back in the day some grads created clever messages out of masking tape on top of their caps. However, these are a generation or two beyond, the more elaborate, the better; and the more clever the pop-culture reference, the best.

This year’s crop of caps paid tribute to such musical stars as Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Cardi B:

But not just the ladies were represented. Former One Direction heartthrob Harry Styles and Chance the Rapper made appearances as well!

And, hey, there were a few choice song lyrics that allegedly made it out onto the graduation field, too — including at least one that made the whole family happy.

Meanwhile, some other students decided to pay homage to the various TV series that helped them unwind during stressful finals weeks (or, perhaps, kept them from studying as much as they should!):

Still others decided to dedicate their caps to actors who have made a difference in their lives (and, in the case of Mindy Kaling at least, some actors took notice back).

Yes, we’ve certainly come a long way from putting our boyfriends’/girlfriends’ initials on the board with a few strips of tape.

Here’s to all the graduates out there: Congratulations to the class of 2018!

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